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Rick Aristotle Munarriz has been a Motley Fool contributor since 1995, specializing in tech and consumer stocks. He's been part of the analyst team for the Motley Fool Rule Breakers newsletter service since its 2004 launch, serving as portfolio lead for the real-money Motley Fool Supernova service since its 2012 debut. Beyond amassing close to 20,000 bylines in that time, Rick still finds the time to tend to his collection of travel and entertainment websites through Siteclopedia.com and perform improvisational comedy at Miami's Just The Funny.
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Companies can make brilliant moves, but there are also times when things don't work out quite as planned. From a theme park operator making a big splash with its first quarterly report as a public company to a cruise ship operator hosing down its navigation skills, here's a rundown of this week's smartest moves and worst performers in the business world.

The world's largest software company showed off its new game face this week. Microsoft unveiled Xbox One, the heir to the Xbox 360 when it rolls out next week. Gamers won't know how much they will have to shell out to buy one of these consoles, but it probably won't be cheap given the impressive specs.

Microsoft spent the first half of its media event discussing all of the non-gaming things that the new system will do. From Skype group video calls to voice-based controls of live television, Xbox One really does want to be the cornerstone of every home theater. After three years of sluggish video game sales, the industry could use a hero.

It was a bad sign when Walmart (WMT) reported disappointing quarterly results last week on a surprising decline in same-store sales, but Target investors probably thought they would be immune from the apathy at the world's largest retailer.

"We're cheap chic," they may have said. "We're Tar-zhay!"

Well, apparently Target wasn't "cheap chic" enough. Shares of the trendy discounter slipped after posting a dip in same-store sales itself. Target is also lowering its earnings outlook for the entire year. Target and Walmart blamed the lingering winter weather and the hiccup in early tax return refunds on the stagnancy, but other retailers have been holding up just fine.

It's always important to look good in your first quarter as a public company, and SeaWorld Entertainment lived up to the billing. The theme park operator behind the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens gated attractions posted a respectable 12 percent increase in revenue during the quarter.

This is impressive because we're not talking about a 12 percent spike in turnstile clicks. Actual attendance climbed just 2 percent during the quarter. The real growth came from consumers willing to spend more to visit its parks and an increase in guest spending inside the park. That's a lot of "I survived" T-shirts and killer whale stuffed animals.

SeaWorld had no problem getting more people to pay up for its engaging experience, but the same didn't hold true for Carnival. The world's largest cruise line warned that it will fall short of its earlier profit targets for the year.

As you can imagine, Carnival's reputation isn't at its best these days. It's had too many mishaps on its vessels since last year, and that makes it hard to get passengers to pay up for a cabin. Discounting and heavy marketing expenses are eating into profitability. Carnival now expects to earn $1.45 a share to $1.65 a share this year, well off its original outlook that modeled as much as $2.10 a share in profitability.

What can Carnival do to improve its image? How about moving up the midnight buffets by a half hour? Hey. At least that's something.

No one would be surprised to hear that Starbucks opened 10 stores this week, but this time it was 10 Seattle's Best Coffee stores. Starbucks introduced 10 Seattle's Best Coffee standalone locations in Dallas this week, and they're different. They don't have any indoor seating or counters. Customers order coffee and a small selection of food items through the drive-thru or walk-up windows.

These coffee houses are also located in parking lots, and eight of them happen to be in Walmart parking lots. Yes, Walmart.

This may not seem like the Euro-style ambience that Starbucks cultivates at its namesake stores, but that's the point. Starbucks is going after the McCafes of the world that are gunning for the value-minded java sipper.

It's a smart move for Starbucks, tossing a brand that has stumbled at the retail level since Borders liquidated its stores two years ago.

Motley Fool contributor Rick Munarriz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Starbucks. The Motley Fool owns shares of Microsoft and Starbucks. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.

In a 2011 study, Billshrink.com found that Americans overpay $336 a year on their wireless plans. Why? Because they incorrectly estimate how many minutes, text messages and megabytes of data they need. When you're paying for minutes, messages and megabytes you don't use, that money leaks away every month.

To stem the tide, one of the best things you can do is treat your cell phone as you would your bank account-that is, track your "spending." Note (either on your bill or by calling your provider directly) how much you're actually using your cell phone. How many of your allotted minutes are you using? How many messages are left over at the end of the month? How much data did you pay for and not use?

It's good to know your cell phone tendencies, anyway: CNN Money estimates that five years down the road, with the institution of 4G networks and the resulting ease of data usage, cell phone bills could balloon by $40 a month. If you're a big data user, this might be an issue for you.

If you find that the plan you're paying for hardly reflects the plan you have, it's time to speak to your provider about a new arrangement. Use our nine steps to negotiate your cell phone bill (including a sample script!) to get started.

DailyFinance estimates that hidden charges on your monthly bills could cost you an extra $350 per year. There are two main ways this happens: "cost creep" and "zombie charges." Cost creep is an incremental price increase on your bill each month by only a few dollars for previously free-or at least unspecified-services like paper statements (bank) or a digital box (cable). Zombie charges are the charges deducted from your account after you've already canceled your service, while the company "processes your request." Look out for these culprits on any monthly bills, from phone and cable to bank statements.

For example, last year Wells Fargo started charging customers in six states $5 for an electronic statement and $7 for a paper statement. Verizon attempted to introduce a $2 convenience fee for phone and online payments, and Bank of America had a plan in place to charge its customers $5 per month for their debit card accounts. Even though the two latter plans were eventually scrapped, it's still important to keep an eye on your monthly statements.

The easiest way to fight this leak is to call the company directly. If you notice your bill going up without clear communication as to why, or with charges that you didn't approve, let them know that you've noticed and you'd like to return to the rate you agreed on. And when canceling a service, be extremely clear that you'd like the charges to end immediately and take note of the date. If you're still getting bills after that cycle, it's time to make another call.

The Self Storage Association reports that 10% of United States households used self storage in 2012, up from 6% in 1995. That's 10.8 million households whose things are out of sight, out of mind ... and costing them a big chunk of change, just in case they ever want to use those vintage snowshoes again.

If you have a storage unit, you may want to revisit that decision. Storage unit fees can run as much as $255 per month. And MSN Money points out that not only are most of the possessions you're storing depreciating in value as they sit, they're also at the mercy of the storage company-if you stop paying your bill, the company can auction your possessions off to the highest bidder.

If you're considering getting a unit, see what you can sell, donate or discard instead. (You could actually earn money instead if you sell used stuff on eBay; for example, one of our editor's moms recently scored herself an extra $5,000 in retirement savings by finally selling all of the used Star Wars paraphernalia taking up space in her attic.) Even if you can't be bothered to sell your excess possessions, they'll cost you less to donate or discard than to store in a unit. If you already have a storage unit bill every month, set aside a weekend to clean it out. Again: Throwing it all away is cheaper than keeping it "just in case."

The next time you want to do some large-scale DIY project, don't buy that heavy-duty pressure washer when you can rent one for a few days at a fraction of the cost. The same goes for shampooing your carpets and performing landscaping tasks. Because let's be honest: How many times a year will you need these specialized tools?

At Home Depot, you can rent a 1400 PSI pressure washer for $35 a day or buy a similar model for $100. If you're going to complete your power-washing on a Saturday afternoon, you'll save $65 and some serious storage space.

And, a little-known tip: Home Depot offers both a four-hour rate (in the case of our power washer, $25) and a daily rate for its rental options. At some locations, if you pick up an item after 6 p.m. and return it the next day before 9 a.m., you're only charged the four-hour rate-an excellent way to save money on short-term projects that don't require a lot of sunlight.

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that in 2011-the most recent data available-the average American spent $2,160 for telephone, cellphone and internet services, which is 21% more than she spent in 2006. Much like with your wireless plan, paying monthly for a level of service you don't use just lets money slip through the cracks.

If you're using all of these services (because of course, another option is to cancel a service and become a zero-TV household), you may want to consider bundling-that is, getting all of your services from the same provider. Because you're committing a larger amount of money to one company, they're usually able to offer you discounts on bundled packages.

And it's not just for utilities-bundling applies to insurance policies too. You can do the same with your auto, homeowner's, renter's and even life insurance policies. Insurance companies prefer to have customers with multiple policies and are willing to offer discounts to retain them, as bringing in and processing new customers is more expensive on their end than knocking a few bucks off your monthly payment.

But remember that bundling isn't a magic price fix. Be sure to do the math-is bundling with one company actually cheaper than paying for each service (or policy) individually? It's only a leak if you're losing money. When negotiating, be sure to ask for a rate that won't change-you don't want to pay a better price for the first six months, only to see the charges rocket upwards once you're out of the introductory period.

If you think you're doing yourself a favor by hoarding your credit card rewards, think again. While it's commendable that you're saving for those airline tickets to Tahiti, a 2011 study from Colloquy.com found that the average consumer ultimately doesn't redeem a third of his rewards-or about $205 every year.

Your rewards are only rewarding if you have a concrete plan in place to spend them. Otherwise, they're just building up bit by bit, but you'll wind up leaving money on the table if you cancel your card, let your points or miles expire, miss a payment, or the company changes its program altogether.

Plus, if you get cash-back rewards, you can redeem them monthly and apply that small sum to your credit card balance, freeing up your own hard-earned cash to use on something you really need. They can also be a good way to start (or bulk up) your emergency fund. Unused cash rewards don't earn interest, which is why you're basically wasting money by just letting them sit.

If you don't understand the nuances of your rewards program, give your credit card company a call and ask them to explain it to you. Otherwise, set a goal to use your rewards in the near future, before they slip down the drain.